Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 8, 2026

Sameer Gehlaut

Sameer Gehlaut is an Indo-British entrepreneur and investor. He is the founder and chairman of the Indiabulls Group, a financial services conglomerate.

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Jul 8, 2026
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Sameer Gehlaut
Gehlaut in 2015
Born
Sameer Gehlaut

(1974-03-03) 3 March 1974
Rohtak, Haryana, India
CitizenshipIndian
EducationBachelor in Mechanical Engineering
Alma materIndian Institute of Technology, Delhi
OccupationsChairman and Founder of Indiabulls Group
SpouseDivya S Gehlaut
Children2

Sameer Gehlaut (born 3 March 1974) is an Indo-British entrepreneur and investor. He is the founder and chairman of the Indiabulls Group,1234 a financial services conglomerate.

Early life and education

Gehlaut was born in Rohtak, Haryana, on 3 March 1974.1 His mother Krishna Gahlawat is a politician, who was part of the Haryana Vikas Party and the Indian National Congress, before joining the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2014.5

Gehlaut graduated in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi in 1995.6

Career

Indiabulls Housing Finance (now Sammaan Capital)

In 1999, Gehlaut co-founded Indiabulls as an online stock brokerage, starting operations from a small office in Delhi with two college friends from IIT.789 During this time, he was its largest shareholder.10 The company went public in September 2004 with steel baron Lakshmi Mittal and hedge fund Farallon Capital as early investors.911 In 2005, Indiabulls acquired defunct mill properties in Central Mumbai (Jupiter Mills and Elphinstone Mills), which led to the creation of Indiabulls Real Estate (IBREL). It operated commercial and residential projects in Mumbai, Delhi and London.912 Indiabulls set up power generation projects in the late 2000s.13

In 2014, the Indiabulls Group was split between the three co-founders, with Gehlaut retaining control of Indiabulls Housing Finance, Indiabulls Real Estate, Indiabulls Securities and Indiabulls Wholesale Services.1415 During Gehlaut’s tenure as chairman, Indiabulls Housing Finance became India's second biggest mortgage lender. Indiabulls Housing disbursed over $35 billion to more than 500,000 retail and corporate borrowers during Gehlaut's two decade tenure as Chairman and returned $1.8 billion to shareholders in dividends16

In 2015, Gehlaut led a $100 million investment in OakNorth Bank through Indiabulls Housing Finance, which created more than 22,500 new jobs across the UK.17

In 2016, Gehlaut was named in the Panama Papers; an Indian Express report alleged that Gehlaut had acquired real estate properties in London through a chain of family-owned offshore entities without requisite public disclosures.18 Gehlaut said he had paid all taxes and made full disclosures.19

Gehlaut resigned from the board of Indiabulls Real Estate in October 202120 and the board of Indiabulls Housing Finance in March 2022.21 Gehlaut exited Indiabulls Housing Finance by selling his remaining stake in 2023.22

In February 2024, the Delhi High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation filed in 2019 seeking an investigation into alleged illegalities involving Gehlaut. The court, in its judgment, stated that it found “no merit” in the petition.2324

In March 2026, International Holding Company Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company (PJSC) acquired strategic control of Sammaan Capital. Through its affiliate Avenir Investment RSC Ltd, IHC secured a 41.5% stake via preferential allotment, with an initial tranche of ₹5,652 crore (US$590 million) to be scaled upto $1.2 billion.25

Indiabulls Real Estate

In 2006, Gehlaut founded Indiabulls Real Estate Limited, delivered over 15 million square feet office and residential developments in Mumbai and Gurugram. He sold one Indiabulls Center and Indiabulls Finance Center for $2 billion to Blackstone Inc. in the largest real estate transaction in India in 2018.26 Subsequently merged with NAM Estates, a joint venture of Blackstone and the Embassy Group.2728

Philanthropy

Sameer Gehlaut has undertaken personal philanthropic efforts distinct from corporate social responsibility programs. In 2022, he and his family featured on the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List, which recognizes individuals donating Rs. 5 crore in personal capacity beyond mandatory CSR requirements. 29

Indiabulls Foundation

The Indiabulls Foundation was established in 2010 by Sameer Gehlaut as the corporate social responsibility (CSR) arm of the Indiabulls Group, aimed at addressing social challenges through structured philanthropy. Foundation provided support to over 7.5 million people in India.3031

GB bank

Gehlaut became the Director of GB Bank in 2024.32 Since the acquisition, he scaled the bank to over £2 billion in retail deposits, achieving profitability and establishing it as one of the UK's fastest-growing challenger banks.33

GB Bank holds a full UK banking licence and provides tailored property development loans to regional property developers, businesses and construction companies.34

Gehlaut owns majority shares in GB Bank's arm Spring AI, which provides a CFO Agent that does cash flow forecasting and other functions of a CFO for SME sector including revenue-linked, non dilutive funding anchored to real-time business data — aligning lender success directly with merchant performance.35

Clivedale

In November 2019, Gehlaut was named in a quid pro quo loan case, along with Yes Bank's Rana Kapoor family.36 In March 2020, days after he left for London, the Enforcement Directorate issued a summons to Gehlaut in relation to the case; Gehlaut said he was unable to join the investigation citing the COVID-19 lockdown.37

After founding Clivedale, Gehlaut resides in London,37 where he has invested in multiple high-end real estate projects through his family office called Clivedale.3839 Clivedale Group, founded by Gehlaut, has developed some of London’s most prestigious addresses, including - The Mandarin Oriental Mayfair, The Mansion, Marylebone, Mayfair Park Residences, and 73-77 Brook Street.4041

Moneycontrol reported in November 2025 that Clivedale is a fintech company which claimed to have £2.5 billion in retail deposits.42

In December 2025, amid an Enforcement Directorate investigation, the EOW registered a first information report against Gehlaut, DLF, Choradia and others for Indiabulls Housing ₹10,000 crore (US$1.0 billion) loan disbursals to corporate groups when Gehlaut was Chairman. These loans were repaid by the corporate groups.4344

Personal life

Gehlaut is married to Divya S Gehlaut,1 the daughter of politician Sumita Singh, a former two-term Congress MLA from Karnal, Haryana.5

Gehlaut's brother Narendra Gehlaut is married to politician Jyoti Mirdha, a former Congress MP from Nagaur, Rajasthan.5

Awards & honors

Gehlaut has received numerous awards and accolades, which include the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2006 and the CNBC-TV18 India Business Leader of the Year Award in 2010.45

  • 2009 Rajiv Gandhi Award46
References

References

  1. "Forbes List - Sameer Gehlaut & family". Forbes.
  2. "Forbes Billionaires List 2017: Here are the 10 youngest billionaires in India". The Business News, The Indian Express. 12 September 2017.
  3. "Meet the 6 youngest self-made Indian billionaires under 50". Yahoo! Finance.
  4. "The World's Billionaires - Sameer Gehlaut". Forbes.
  5. Guha Thakurta, Paranjoy (30 September 2019). "The Maze of Political Links of Indiabull's Sameer Gehlaut". NewsClick. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  6. "Profile: Sameer Gehlaut". Forbes. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
  7. "Three Indians among Forbes Web Billionaires". The Economic Times. 2008-09-12. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
  8. "The Rs 29,000-crore surprise". Business Today (India). 4 October 2007.
  9. M & A Critique (2015-12-08). "Zeal to Excel : Sameer Gehlaut | Indiabulls Group | M&A Critique". Retrieved 2025-02-27.
  10. "Three Indians among Forbes Web Billionaires". Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  11. "Forbes billionaires list 2017: Here are the 10 youngest billionaires in India". Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  12. "Rating Rationale - Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited". CRISIL.
  13. "Three Indians among Forbes Web Billionaires". The Economic Times. 2008-09-12. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
  14. "Indiabulls' three promoters split Rs 8.8k cr group". The Times of India. 10 July 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  15. Kamath, Raghavendra (10 July 2024). "Indiabulls promoters split empire". Business Standard. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  16. "Sameer Gehlaut resigns as non-executive chairman of Indiabulls Real Estate". Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  17. "Indiabulls buys 40% stake in OakNorth Bank of UK for $100 m". Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  18. Mazoomdaar, Jay (4 April 2016). "Paying for real estate deals: Karnal to London via Bahamas, the route Indiabulls promoter took". The Indian Express. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  19. "Panama Papers: DLF, Apollo Tyres, IndiaBulls deny violating laws". Times of India. April 4, 2016. Archived from the original on April 11, 2016. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  20. "Sameer Gehlaut resigns as non-executive chairman of Indiabulls Real Estate". Moneycontrol. 14 October 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  21. Nahar, Pawan (15 March 2022). "Indiabulls Housing rallies 13% on Sameer Gehlaut's resignation". The Economic Times. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  22. "Indiabulls' Gehlaut to exit flagship housing finance company". The Times of India. 29 July 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  23. "Delhi HC dismisses PIL seeking investigation against Indiabulls over alleged illegalities". Retrieved 28 April 2026.
  24. "Delhi High Court dismisses PIL seeking investigation against Indiabulls over alleged illegalities". Retrieved 28 April 2026.
  25. "Sammaan Capital: Abu Dhabi-based IHC buys 41.5% stake, enters India's NBFC space". Retrieved 1 May 2026.
  26. "Indiabulls to sell real estate business to Embassy-Blackstone". The Times of India. 19 August 2020.
  27. "NCLT withholds merger of NAM Estates and Embassy One with Indiabulls". The Hindu. 9 May 2023.
  28. "Merger of NAM Estates, Embassy One into Indiabulls Real Estate gets CCI nod". ETRealty.com.
  29. "EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021". hurun.net.
  30. "Sameer Gehlaut: Building Indiabulls Financial Empire". Alice Blue Online. 18 April 2025.
  31. "This Indian entrepreneur started his business from a small room, today he is the owner of a company worth ₹34,000 crore". Sugarmint. 19 August 2021.
  32. "Officer appointments - UK Companies House". Retrieved 1 May 2026.
  33. "GB Bank breaks £2 billion balance sheet milestone months after hitting profitability". Retrieved 1 May 2026.
  34. "GB Bank receives full banking licence, set to lend £3bn over five years". Retrieved 1 May 2026.
  35. Smith, George (20 April 2026). "Spring Cash chatbot contradicts GB Bank's 'arm's length' claim". GlobalCapital.
  36. Dhara, Tushar (25 November 2019). "New affidavit in Indiabulls case accuses Yes Bank of dubious loans of thousands of crores". The Caravan. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  37. Thakur, Pradeep (19 March 2020). "Indiabulls boss in UK, says can't join ED probe due to flight bar". The Times of India. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  38. Neville, Matthew (23 September 2022). "Entrepreneur pouring millions into London's "world-class" property market". Bdaily Business News. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  39. Moffitt, Will (5 November 2023). "Indian impact". Mayfair Times. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  40. "Sameer Gehlaut eyes tech investments following $150 million stake sale to Blackstone and ADIA". Retrieved 1 May 2026.
  41. "Entrepreneur pouring millions into London's world-class property market". Retrieved 1 May 2026.
  42. Burugula, Pavan (20 November 2025). "Explained: Who is Sameer Gehlaut and what is the Sammaan Capital case about?". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  43. "ED intensifies probe into Rs 10,000-crore loan scam; FIR against IFHL co-founder Sameer Gehlaut". Zee Business. 18 December 2025. Archived from the original on 18 December 2025. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
  44. "SC gives CBI a week to decide on criminal case against Indiabulls promoters". Business Standard. 17 December 2025.
  45. "Sameer Gehlaut: Building Indiabulls Financial Empire". Alice Blue Online. 18 April 2025.
  46. "Rajiv Gandhi Award winners". photogallery.indiatimes.com.